WOW - What an amazing trip! All 18 of us had a blast
To answer the first question - we dropped the bags with porter at curb ( 2 of our group stayed with bags until porter took them) - then the rest headed up to garage. Only carryons/day bags went up throught the garage walkway into terminal.
Dream was awesome -
Shows:
Liked Golden Mickeys, Loved Believe -- actually walked out of Villians Tonight mid way through the show - it was that bad, AND I usually love the Disney shows. Variety show was "Dangerous Comedy" jugglers etc - it was entertaining
Crowds:
I always found pool area on Sea Days on the Magic to be horrific -- Dream was much the same. We avoid Deck 11 between 10am and 6pm on Sea Days
Terminal was crowded - but we got on the ship by 12 so did not have to deal with it very long
Waited to go to dinner until 5 -10 minutes after seating time so did not have to wait there
Shops - crowded between shows, but not unbearable
Castaway Cay - less crowded than I expected. Maybe because it was a Double Dip? No prob getting a group of loungers together. BTW - if you want hair braiding done, this is the place to do it. Braids look much better and hold up longer than the ones done on the ship. Had cabana for second day - a nice splurge, but not necessary in retrospect. Crowds not that bad
AquaDuck - fun, not very thrilling and I am a huge chicken on rides
Rode it 3-4 times as soon as we boarded, then mostly at night - which we liked better. After 8pm, lines were 10 minutes or less. Mid afternoon lines were about an hour wait
Restaurants-
AP - did not like as much as on Magic - we were in center of the place, not anywhere near the "Crush" show - so it was mostly just noisy. Decor was neat - loved the chairs
RP - pretty decor, decent food
EG - liked this - seemed to be the least noisy - our table was off to the side which prob helped somewhat
Palo - as delicious as ever - our group of 9 lucked out with the chef's table for dinner, which was really special
Remy - Spectacular - did the wine pairing and enjoyed every minute of it
Kids Activities- amazing - ages 2 -14 with us - so we used all options from nursery to Vibe -- all a huge success
MidShip Detective Game - great fun, we all liked it
Shutters - Although the set up is more organized than on the Magic - we did not have many photos this year -- Kids are 7 and 9 - and were not interested in the characters this year. We did not line up for lifestyle or formal photos -- too much else to do! This was really a godsend -- saved us tons of time not waiting for the Princesses !
Sailaway/Pirate Parties - Both seemed better to me on the Magic, but maybe it was because we have seen them before?
Fitness Center -- This to me was a disappointment -- I don't know if it truly was smaller on the Dream, or if it just seemed smaller. I did not like the feel of it - I worked out there every day - went to spinning and a boot camp class. The whole place felt clautrophobic to me, and I am only 5ft 2inches.
Adult pool - as others have said , poor layout of this area - and felt crowded to me - more so than on the magic
However - Deck 13 was great - esp way forward - hardly anyone up there even on a sea day
Liked the quick serve places -- ate there a lot
Cabanas nice - but never sat in there - just got stuff for breakfast and sat out by pool. We would grab breakfast and eat by the pool/swim first thing in the morning while pools were clean and empty
Room Service - adequate, kids loved it - waited 10-15 minutes each time
MiniGolf - cute, fun
Foosball/PingPong tables - sort of a tough spot to play (windy) but had fun
Shuffle Board - Deck 4 - always available - this is a family tradition for us - so we played at least 2- 3 times
Spa -very nice, had a great hot stone massage. Shower/changing area ok - not as nice as on the Magic IMO
Debrakation process - fairly easy, but we carried our luggage off ourselves as we had our rental car at terminal
After the cruise, we stayed at Universal Studios/IOA for a few days -- If you have time - this is worthwhile stop -- Harry Potter world is pretty cool, and I am not even a huge Harry Potter fan -- I read books 1-4, mostly becuase I knew we were going to be here, but the whole place is really well done, and the Forbidden Journey ride is worth the price of admission IMO
Anyway -- thats about it unless there are any questions
Going to do a stateroom report next - Happy to answer any questions
